Memphis Belle: Movie Review

The movie I chose to review is a period piece set in World War II, more specifically 1943. Named “Memphis Belle”, the movie released on October 12th, 19901a. “Memphis Belle” was written by Monte Merrick and directed by Michael Caton-Jones1b. Following the crew of the titular plane, the Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 named for the girlfriend of the planes captain, on preparation and execution of their 25th, and final, mission1c. Staring notable actors such as Billy Zane (“Titanic”) as Lt. Val Kozlowski, Harry Connick Jr. (“Independence Day”) as Sgt. Clay Busby, and Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket”) as Capt. Dennis Dearborn1d. IMDb rates “Memphis Belle” a 6.9 of 101e.

Plot

As mentioned before, this is the 25th and final mission for the Memphis Belle, which is considered a full tour of duty for an American bomber crew2a. Flying into Germany for the mission, its anything but easy. Flying to Bremen to destroy the Focke Wulf aircraft factory, the planes fly in a formation of over 300 other B-17 aircraft, while being escorted by multiple North American P-51D Mustang fighters3a. While flying to and from the target, the planes are attacked by defending Messerschmitt BF-109 fighters (Most likely G variants4a). Eventually the bombers fighter escorts return to base, due to being low on fuel3b. Up to this point, the bombers have suffered significant loses. The German counterattacks focused on the leading aircraft in the formation. The first lead, Windy City, is attacked and explodes right in front of the Belle. Attacks are continuous, and the replacement lead, C Cup, is forced to return to base, thus making the Memphis Belle the lead bomber3c. Once the formation reached its target, it was found to obstructed by cloud cover3d. The pilot of the Belle, Capt. Dennis Dearborn (Modine), decides to abort the initial bomb run and circle back around, much to the dismay of his crew (And I’m sure the crews of the other planes)3e. On the second run, the bombardier, Lt. Val Kozlowski (Zane) spots the factory through a break in the clouds and the bombers successfully hit their target. Once they are clear of the anti-aircraft fire, they endured during the bombing runs, the formation is again attacked by fighters. As the attacks continue, the plane is shredded, with a large section of the tail torn off, and the number four engine set on fire. The radio operator, Staff Sgt. Danny Daly (Eric Stoltz), is wounded in the attacks. During this, Capt. Dearborn and co-pilot 1st Lt. Luke Sinclair (Tate Donovan) drop the plane into a dive and put the fire out in engine four, despite great risk. As the Belle slowly returns to base, the crew finds that the wheels cannot be lowered due to electrical damage caused by the attacks, but they can be manually lowered by a hand crank and are lowered just before landing3f.

Accuracies and Inaccuracies

While some may not consider name changes in movies for legal reasons inaccuracies, I feel as though it doesn’t tell the true story of this illustrious plane. Not one character in the movie shares a name with their real life counterparts1f;5a. Along with the composite characters, the dance and party that is held at night would never happen. Not only were the Germans engaging in bombing offensives of their own, they did them almost exclusively at night. In 1943, Great Britain was still under blackout restrictions, and would remain this way through the end of the war6a. Essentially, the party made the airfield a giant target.

Although a minor mistake, when Sgt. Daly, the radio operator, was asking for a radio check he used a phonetic alphabet. He used the word “Tango”, representing the letter T. Tango is the modern and current phonetic representation for T. In the 1940’s the word was “Tare”7a.

The plane which portrayed the Memphis Belle in the movie isn’t originally a B-17F, which the real life Belle is9a. It’s a converted B-17G, which was made to look like a F, by removing the chin turret for filming and air shows8b.

According to the film, the Belle flew her final mission on May 17th, 19438c. While she did in fact fly her final mission on May 17th, 1943, it wasn’t to an aircraft factory in Bremen, Germany, it was to German submarine pens in Lorient, France10a. The Belle did in fact take part in the mission to Bremen, but this was their 20th mission, on April 17th, 1943, an exact month before the Lorient mission10b. Also, in some scenes the bombers are escorted by P-51D Mustang fighters, which turn back due to low fuel. This is inaccurate since the P-51D is capable of flying 1,600 miles with jettisonable fuel tanks, more than the range of the Bremen mission of 756 miles (This is if you use RAF Bassingbourn as the airfield the real Memphis Belle and some P-51s flew from, instead of the airfield at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, England, where the film was made.)9b,11a,12a.

The plane used in the movie does not appear like the real Memphis Belle. The nose art, bomb markers indicating completed missions, group markings and tail number are accurate, but the font of the words “Memphis Belle” on the nose is different, as in the movie it is a script font, but in real life it is plain block letters8d. Also, the paint job in the movie is a clean olive drab over sky gray finish, while the real plane had a more mottled, splotchy finish due to paint being applied over repaired damage8e.

Real Crew

As mentioned above, the characters in the movie are composites, sharing little or nothing in common with the real life crew. The movie itself wasn’t even going to be called “Memphis Belle” to prevent legal action, but instead “Southern Belle”8f. The real crew of the Belle had no objections, however8g.

Because of aircraft availability, the crew of the Memphis Belle flew five of their 25 combat missions on different B-17s, and the Belle was flown of five combat missions with a completely different crew9c. Due to this, the Memphis Belle crew’s 25th mission was the aircrafts 24th mission9d. The plane flew its 25th mission two days later, May 19th, 19439e.

The pilot in the movie is Captain Dennis Dearborn (Matthew Modine), while the real life pilot was Captain Robert “Bob” Morgan from Asheville, North Carolina. He volunteered for additional duty after the War Bond Tour to fly a B-29 Superfortress over Japan. He led the first B-29 formation over Tokyo. He died May 15th, 200413a.

The co-pilot in the movie is 1st Lt. Luke Sinclair (Tate Donovan), and the real life co-pilot was Captain James Verinis, from Woodbridge, Connecticut. Verinis also piloted his own B-17, the Connecticut Yankee. He was the crew member who purchased the crew’s mascot, a Scottish Terrier named “Stuka”. He died March 3rd, 200313b.

The movie navigator is 1st Lt. Phil Lowenthal (D.B. Sweeney), and the real life navigator was Captain Charles Leighton, from Flint, Michigan. He retired as a school teacher and counselor. He saved the Belle and other B-17s by identifying fake German radio beacons. He died in 199113c.

The bombardier in the movie is 1st Lt. Val Kozlowski (Billy Zane), and his real life counterpart was Captain Vince Evans, of Fort Worth, Texas14a. After the war he became a writer in Hollywood, being credited with two screenplays, “Chain Lightning” starring Humphrey Bogart, and “Battle Hymn” starring Rock Hudson14b. He also became friends with Ronald Reagan13d. He died April 20th, 198014c.

The movie radio operator is Staff Sgt. Danny Daly (Eric Stoltz), the real radio operator was Tech Sergeant Robert Hanson, from Helena, Montana15a. He became a member of the crew from the Belle in Walla Walla during training. He died October 1st, 200513d.

The top turret gunner and flight engineer in the movie is Staff Sgt. Virgil Hoogesteger (Reed Diamond). The real top gunner and engineer was Harold Loch. Born in 1919 in Denmark, Wisconsin, he was one of 12 children16a. His first air raid on the Belle was February 14th, 1943. He died in 200413e.

Staff Sgt. Richard Moore (Sean Astin) was the movies ball turret gunner, and the real ball turret gunner was Staff Sgt. Cecil Scott, from Arapahoe, North Carolina. He received credit for damaging one plane. He died in 197913f.

The waist gunners in the movie were Staff Sgt. Eugene McVey (Courtney Gains) and Sgt. Jack Bocci (Neil Giuntoli). The real waist gunners were Staff Sergeant Clarence Winchell and Staff Sergeant Casimer Nastal. Winchell was born November 4th, 1916 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Nastal was born October 23rd, 192317a. Winchell was the one who downed the 8th German fighter for the Belle. He died in 1994. Nastal flew only one mission on the Memphis Belle, having flown 24 others on other planes. After the war bond tour, he returned to Europe and completed a total of 60 missions. He died on August 10th, 200213g.

The tail gunner in the movie is Staff Sgt. Clay Busby (Harry Connick Jr.), and the real tail gunner was Staff Sergeant John Quinlan. Quinlan was born on June 13th, 1919 in Yonkers, New York. After the war bond tour, he went to fight in the Pacific and was shot down in a B-29 and captured by the Japanese. He died on December 18th, 200018a.

Acting, Production, Special Effects

I feel as though the movie as a whole is a good film. It has action, and drama in some parts, but it was nothing real memorable. You remember the plane, but you don’t remember the characters inside the plane. Whether this is because for a good chunk of the movie the actors are mostly covered by their oxygen masks, or because they simple weren’t outstanding in their performances, you don’t remember them. It is easy, however, to connect with them and want them to succeed in their mission (though this may be due to having a sense of patriotism). The image quality is subpar, as some movies released before it look a thousand times better. “Top Gun” comes to mind as a movie in the same theme of military aviation that looks better than “Memphis Belle”, even though it was released a full four years earlier in 1986. Along with better overall image quality, “Top Gun” is also better in the special effects department too. In “Memphis Belle” you can tell the actors weren’t actually flying in a B-17, whereas in “Top Gun” one might think Tom Cruise is actually flying the F-14 Tomcat (He never actually flew one but did ride in the RIO seat behind the pilot on actual flights). One person said, and I apologize as I can not find the original source, say something along the lines of “If someone remade ‘Top Gun’ with a crayon, it would look like this”, and I agree, as “Memphis Belle” looks like it was made in the 1970s, maybe even the 1960s, instead of 1990. Personally, I believe “Battle of Britain” has better clarity, and that was released in 1969. The acting isn’t bad, as some of the actors were making their screen debuts, such as Harry Connick Jr. I’ve seen much worse acting by much higher touted actors in much higher cost movies (I’m talking about you, “Pearl Harbor”). The music is nothing special either, in my opinion. Its more run of the mill orchestral pieces with nothing that sticks out. The music in the hangar party is typical big band music from the era, but the background music is mediocre at best. Some movies just have music that can pull you in and make you want more of the movie. The best example of this is “The Dark Knight”, with the music being composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. Overall, the movie isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t call it great either. And many others agree with me, as it has a 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb, and a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Works Cited

1. a,b,c,d,e https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100133/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt Memphis Belle
2. a https://www.fandango.com/memphis-belle-159463/plot-summary Memphis Belle Synopsis
3. a,b, Memphis Belle (1990)
4. http://www.aviation-history.com/messerschmitt/bf109.html BF 109 Larry Dwyer, 1997
5. a https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1493811/memphis-belle-crew/ Memphis Belle Crew 2018
6. a https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/01/blackout-britain-wartime Blackout in Britain Felicity Goodall 2009
7. a http://www.lonesentry.com/panzer/wwii-phonetic-alphabet-radio.html Phonetic Alphabet
8. a,b,c,d,e,f,g https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100133/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv Memphis Belle Trivia
9. a,b,c,d,e https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1506245/the-memphis-belle-american-icon/ The Memphis Belle: American Icon
10. a https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/memphis-belle/einsaetze/ Memphis Belle Missions
11. a https://www.distancefromto.net/ Distanec from RAF Bassingbourn to Bremen, Germany
12. a https://www.britannica.com/technology/P-51
13. a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/memphis-belle/crew/ Memphis Belle Crew
14. a,b https://memphisbelle.com/vince-evans-bombardier/
15. a https://memphisbelle.com/bob-hanson-radio-operator/
16. a https://memphisbelle.com/harold-loch-waist-gunner/
17. a https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12391653/casimer-a_-nastal
18. a https://memphisbelle.com/jp-quinlan-tail-gunner/